


(We Need Some) Alone Time

by Iheart2manyfandoms



Category: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda) - Fandom, Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: But I was inspired, Fluff, Four (Linked Universe)-centric, Four centric, Gen, How Do I Tag, I never write things, LU Linktober, LU Linktober 2020, LU Linktober Day 14: Alone, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Linktober, Linktober 2020, My First AO3 Post, My First Work in This Fandom, One Shot, Teeny bit of angst, but fluff, how many tags is too many tags?, if it's even enough to count, just a little, so here take it, well the first written one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27048823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iheart2manyfandoms/pseuds/Iheart2manyfandoms
Summary: When everything gets to be too much, sometimes you just need a bit of time to yourself.
Relationships: Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link & Vio Link, Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Four & Twilight (Linked Universe)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 216





	(We Need Some) Alone Time

**Author's Note:**

> You guys. I never write things. The last time was like... 4 years ago. I just don't, I'm an artist at heart. But I was inspired to write this by the LU Discord server so I just sat down and did it. I wrote this in the past 2 days and stayed up till 2 in the morning typing it last night. There has been minimal editing and I have no beta so any mistakes are mine. *~Enjoy~*

~~~~::4::~~~~

_ Vio stop biting our nails.  _

Four’s hand froze and moved to his lap, some unreadable expression on his face.

_ Ugh. Sorry. Sorry, I just… _

_ I know Vio. We all do. _

The small hero’s hands started fidgeting once more, from picking at his new hangnail, to pulling on the end of his belt, to fiddling with the hem of his colorful tunic, right at the seam between red and purple.

It had been weeks since they’d split. He knew this was coming. He’d been growing more and more uncomfortable for days and every part of him was getting restless from the  _ too small too close too tight too much.  _

_ We need to split. _

_ Not here.  _

_ Yeah no shit we’re in the middle of camp. _

_ Blue we’re all feeling this. Don’t snap at us. _

_ We need to get out of here.  _

_ Maybe we should just tell the others? Then we could…  _

_ You want to tell them right  _ now _? Seriously?! When we’re about to fucking- fall apart! _

_ Well not  _ right now _ right now, but- _

_ Well a fat lot of good that does us  _ right now _! _

_ Blue.  _

_ Imagine how well that’s gonna go over! Like, hey guys by the way, I can- _

_ Blue, stop! _

Four crossed his arms, then he uncrossed them, then he squeezed his eyes shut and kneaded his forehead, displacing his headband in the process. With what he hoped was a quiet groan, he peered through his fingers at the bustling campsite around him, hoping to discern if he had missed anything while he was preoccupied in his own head. 

It seemed he hadn’t missed much. Wild and Time were still prepping the fire for dinner, though Time was partly distracted by keeping his eye on Wind and Hyrule, who were bugging Legend about something. Up to no good as usual. Sky and Warriors were animatedly talking about something or other over by where everyone had dropped their packs for the night.

But where...?

Oh.

Twilight was standing right in front of him, holding a few large logs. He assumed Twi was taking them over to the duo at the campfire. Twi peered at him in concern, before completing his delivery to the campfire and returning to sit to Four’s left. 

Four tugged his headband out of his hair and turned to look at the farmhand next to him.

The slightly pinched look remained on Twilight’s face as he asked, “You feeling alright Four?”

**_No_ **

“You’ve seemed kinda out of it the past couple a’ days.” A good natured chuckle, “More so than usual I mean.” He winked and nudged Four’s shoulder with his own.

Four gave him a small, halfhearted smile, then turned his eyes to his hands. Hm. he hadn’t even realized he’d untied the knot. He weaved the green strip of fabric between his fingers, then he pulled it loose and wrapped it around one of his palms.

_ Twi asked us a question. _

Four’s gaze jolted back up and he opened his mouth “W- I- I’ll be..”

_ No I won’t. _

_ We need to get out of here. _

Four sighed. “Actually… I think I need a bit of… peace and quiet? To get away for a little while.”

As Four trailed off uncertainly, Twi gave him an appraising look, and then a sharp nod. Standing up he offered Four his hand and a smile. 

“Fair enough.” He hoisted the small hero to his feet and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. “I’ll cover for you. Everyone needs some alone time once in a while.”

Four nearly collapsed back down in relief. “Exactly. Thank you.”

Four made sure he had his satchel and sword and Twi added, “I can come get you when dinner’s ready if you want.”

_ No.  _

_ Absolutely not.  _

_ What if he sees us? _

_...Would that really be so bad? _

_ Later Red.  _

“Uh, n-no thanks Twi. I’ll be back by dark. But if you could save me some food that would be great.”

“No problem Smithy. Now get outta here.”

Four gave him one last grateful nod and disappeared into the treeline.

\----

Once Four was out of sight of the camp, he took off at quick jog, his mind filled with a constant beat of  _ go get away keepgoingcan’tletthemsee. _

**_LET ME OUT!_ **

Some five, ten, fifteen minutes later, he didn’t know nor did he particularly care as long as it was far enough away from camp, Four rounded a largeish rock formation and slowed to a stop in a small clearing. He took a quick circuit of the area to determine that he was in the clear, he dropped his satchel and the headband that was still in his hand, and finally _ finally _ drew his sword.

With a blinding flash of light, one became four, and a palpable feeling of relief swept through the clearing. 

Four matching swords were returned to their sheaths in tandem and four matching heroes rejoiced in their newfound freedom.

Blue let out a whoop and started to run a quick lap around the clearing. 

Red skipped back a few steps with a laugh, spread his arms and spun in a circle. 

Vio gave a happy sigh and stretched his arms above his head.

Green also stretched, then promptly plopped down, spread eagle on the ground, eyes closed and simply enjoying the evening sunlight.

After everyone had had a few minutes to themselves to just  _ breathe _ , they gathered back around their prone leader. 

Green propped himself up on his hands and smiled up at his brothers. He squinted towards the horizon. “We’ve probably got about an hour or so before we need to head back. Do any of you want to do anything specific? Or do y’all just want to chill? I’m fine either way.”

They all glanced at each other. Blue piped up “Red, you wanna race?”

“You’re on! You still owe me from last time. Green will you referee?”

“Sure thing. I’ll race the winner. Vio?”

“No thanks. Gimme my book.” He made grabby motions at the satchel on the other side of Green. 

Green handed Vio the satchel as he stood up to join Red and Blue. Vio dug through the bag and eagerly pulled out the novel he was reading. He cast around for a place to sit and spied a nice looking ledge near the top of the rock formation that was awash with the evening sunlight. He clambered up to his chosen spot and settled back against the rock behind him. As Vio opened the book to his marked page he looked down at his brothers. 

Red and Blue were playfully smack talking each other as they took their marks on one side of the clearing. Green waved at them from the other side to get their attention. 

Vio turned his attention to his story just as Green called go; he was soon lost to his tales of far off lands and forbidden romances.

\----

Time ticked by and the light turned golden. Vio had shifted from sitting, to laying on his back, to laying on his stomach with his head propped up on one hand, because you can’t stay in one position while reading.  _ You just can’t. _

He marked his page at the end of the chapter and gently closed his book with a contented smile. The dying light threw long shadows across the quiet clearing, and Vio slowly traced his finger around the one he cast, reminiscing about old friends lost but never forgotten.

Rolling over he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, simply enjoying the quiet and solitude. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his brothers more than anything, but Twi was right. Everyone needed some time to themselves once in a while. Even them. Especially them.

\----

Elsewhere in the clearing, the other three heroes were scattered. After they had finished a few rounds of racing, which Red had dominated, as expected, they too had elected to find places to relax. 

Blue had claimed a low branch on the tree that had marked their finish line and was idly picking at the bark on the trunk.

Red and Green had seated themselves a few feet apart at the base of the rock formation below Vio, and were quietly chatting about everything and nothing. In Red’s hands was a half finished flower crown. His hands were mindlessly pulling long blades of grass and small wildflowers and carefully weaving them into his floral masterpiece. 

Green picked a tall yellow flower and twirled it in his fingers before holding it out to Red.

“We should probably head back soon. Don’t want the others to worry.”

Red glanced up and plucked the flower from Green’s fingers. “Yeah. But just a bit longer. This is nice.”

“Yeah. It is.”

\----

A few minutes later, Red scooted closer to Green and happily dropped the completed flower crown onto his head. Green gave a wide smile and straightened his new accessory.

Green leaned back on his elbows and took in the rainbow sky. With a less than halfhearted mental whine of  _ why do I have to be the responsible one? _ he resigned himself to bringing their reprieve to an end. 

He leaned his head back and called up “Hey Vio.”

A purple headband peeked over the side of the ledge. 

Green jerked his head in a  _ come here _ gesture. He received a nod in return and did the same for Blue. the last hero slid out of the tree with a soft thud and brushed a few leaves off his tunic before heading over.

The brothers gathered and sat in a tight circle, their legs all tangled together between them. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment longer before Green stated simply, “I think we should consider telling the others.”

Red leaned forward excitedly and the other two started to make noises of protest, but Green held up his hand, quieting them. 

“Just hear me out.” He continued, looking each of his brothers in the eye. “I’m not saying we should tell them tonight or even this week. But  _ soon _ . None of us want this to happen again, but it will if we insist on keeping this a secret.”

At this, Blue butted in. “Everyone else has secrets too. Why should we be the one to spill?”

Red cut in before Green could answer. “Well someone has to start don’t they? If we show that we trust them with this, with _ us _ , maybe they’ll start to open up too. And just imagine! We’d be able to split whenever we want to, and-”

“But what if they hate us?” Vio interjected quietly, voicing the fear that was present in the back of all of their minds.

A moment of silence passed.

“I don’t really think they would. Do you? I mean, Time and Wild and I’m pretty sure Legend all know about Twilight and they’re fine with him. Everyone has their own quirks and weirdness, I’m sure they’d accept us with open arms.”

It’s the  _ but what if _ that none of them want to think about.

“Yeah, but there’s weird, and then there’s  _ us _ . We’re a whole new level of… strange.”

Despite their separation, the same thought was going through each of their heads. 

_ Not crazy. Never crazy. _

The conversation trailed off for a moment, before Red picked it back up. “As much as I want to, we wouldn’t even have to tell everyone at first. Just someone. They could help cover for us if we need to get away before it gets as bad as it did this time.”

Blue and Vio had to acknowledge the logic of the other’s arguments. Vio even offered, “Well, I do have to admit that this would probably go over a lot better if they heard it straight from us rather than in the heat of battle or something.”

Red nodded, smiling. “Exactly!”

Silence returned, filled only by crickets and emerging nightlife as the group mulled over their conversation.

Green stood up.

“Look, we don’t have to make a decision right now, but this needs some serious consideration. Okay?”

They each assented, and he offered a hand up to Vio and Red on either side of him, who in turn each offered a hand to Blue.

They stood there for a moment holding hands, drinking in the sight of each other.

“You guys ready to go back?”

As one they dropped hands and drew their swords. Swords were raised, inches away from touching. 

One last look. Fond smiles.

“See you guys later.”

The bright flash of light pushed back the growing darkness, and when it faded one remained.

Four stood alone in the clearing, a flower crown on his head, a chip of bark stubbornly clinging unnoticed to his sleeve, and four sets of memories sorting themselves out in his mind.

Red winning his races  _ and he did not cheat thank you very much. _

The weird knot on Blue’s tree that looked a bit like a cuckoo.

The cliffhanger at the end of Vio’s chapter. 

The feeling of the grass beneath Green’s hands. 

The sun on their faces. The joy of seeing their brothers in person again.

Four bent down and grabbed his satchel, securing it over his shoulder.

_ We good? _

_ Did I put my book in here? _

Four checked inside.

_ Yep.  _

_ Headband? _

Four pulled out the strip of fabric and fastened it back into place on his brow, then readjusted his flower crown above it.

**_We’re good._ **

“I’m good.” Four said to himself with a smile.

Four rubbed his hands together and wondered aloud. “Hm. I wonder what Wild made for dinner...”

The colorful hero set off back towards camp with a spring in his step, just as the last fiery rays of sunset spread across the sky.

~~~~::4::~~~~


End file.
